By DALE McGARRIGLE; OF THE NEWS STAFF Tonight is an evening of imports. First up is "Kath and Kim," inspired by an Australian sitcom of the same name, debuting at 8:30 p.m. on NBC. Well-paired with "My Name is Earl" at 8 p.m., "Kath and Kim" is another entertaining, white-trash buddy comedy.

By David Kronke CBS' "Eleventh Hour" and Fox's "Fringe" offer a textbook case in similar subject matter handled in each network's trademark style. "Fringe" trucks in manic, often gross-out yarns and paranoia.

By Scott D. Pierce Deseret News BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- A couple of things can happen when Americans try to turn a hit British series into a hit on this side of the pond. It can turn out like "The Office," which was very successful in both versions.

By Christopher Lawrence Forget the housing meltdown, the crisis on Wall Street and the fact that banks are failing faster than Hugh Hefner's relationships. The surest sign America is in trouble? Even our TV shows are being outsourced.

By Christopher Lawrence By CHRISTOPHER LAWRENCE REVIEW-JOURNAL Not excited about the new fall TV season? Blame the writers strike. Haven't heard enough about the new shows to know whether you should be excited? Blame the writers strike.

British actor Rufus Sewell is set to star in the new mystery/suspense drama series "Eleventh Hour," CBS announced. Sewell is best known for his roles in the films "A Knight's Tale" and "The Illusionist," and in the TV miniseries "John Adams." He will play biophysicist Dr.

Word of the Day

pawl

A pivoted catch designed to fall into a notch on a ratchet wheel so as to allow movement in only one direction (e.g. on a windlass or in a clock mechanism), or alternatively to move the wheel in one direction.